Articles

Food manufacturers, ingredient companies and retailers are under pressure to improve productivity, strengthen supply resilience and bring differentiated products to market faster. At Future Food-Tech London on 24–25 September 2026, emerging companies will present technologies designed to address those priorities, from AI-enabled quality and consumer insight to fermentation-derived ingredients, shelf-life solutions and lower-impact packaging.

Across the start-up exhibition, attendees will have the opportunity to meet the founders developing solutions that could shape the next decade of food innovation. Whether you're seeking new technologies, strategic partnerships, investment opportunities or fresh thinking, these innovators offer a glimpse into what's next for the global food system.

Delegates can also hear quick-fire pitches from the start-ups and scale-ups on stage, providing a fast-paced introduction to the technologies, ingredients and business models gaining momentum across the industry.

Read on to take a first look at the innovators poised to unlock new categories, new efficiencies, and new possibilities for the future of food.

Featured Scale-ups

• Aelius Biotech generates physiologically relevant data from mucus-enabled 3D digestion, absorption and microbiome in vitro models and small-scale human trials.
• Enbiosis is the world's first Digital Twin and AI-powered engine turning gut microbiome science into food-grade nutraceutical formulations for global health brands.
• Everis is the first designed trading platform for premium food ingredients. Cultivating value through transparent agricultural supply-chain.
• JOYN Foods created the only industrial ingredient that blends seamlessly with ground meat, improving nutrition and taste while reducing costs and the carbon footprint.
• Klura moves preservation from the ingredients list to the packaging, using antimicrobial technology to prevent spoilage and extend shelf-life.
• Pentasweet is a sweet protein born from fruit, unlocked for commercial scale through the science of fermentation.

Featured Start-ups

• Biophelion produces sustainable flavour ingredients through fermentation, creating alternatives to traditionally extracted compounds for clean-label food applications.
• BioSense Solutions delivers high-throughput imaging for rapid fungal spore count and analysis, accelerating preservative, antifungal, and biopesticide development.
• Caffree Co. is the first solvent-free, on-site caffeine control technology built for the modern coffee and tea industry.
• CERTI is an AI-powered quality platform that automates audits, CAPAs, supplier checks, labelling and compliance for food and packaging manufacturers.
• Comet Clinical is a UK-based CRO with global reach, specialising in real-world evidence (RWE), clinical, nutritional, and consumer studies.
• Dapibuset converts industrial and agricultural side-streams into nutrient-dense food and feed ingredients using a patented on-site fermentation platform.
• Digitaste is an AI consumer simulation for food and beverage brands which predicts how real consumers respond before you launch.
• Eclipse Ingredients Sustainably creating ingredients that transform health and wellbeing, starting with human lactoferrin.
• Global Sustainable Transformation is developing sustainable alternatives to conventional plant oils through innovative yeast fermentation
• Key2Biotics is a specialist product development partner turning the latest microbiome science into probiotic-containing supplements and functional foods that work.
• MicroLub is a deep-tech ingredient solutions company, which develops protein-based bio-lubricants to enhance mouthfeel, texture, and nutrition in food.
• OmnisOva develops next-generation egg technologies, unlocking new opportunities in food, health and biomanufacturing through advanced avian genetics.
• Potina combines award-winning children's nutrition with delivery technology enabling the future of bioactive infant and specialised nutrition.
• Quartz Labs has created ‘The Box’ the end-to-end platform for F&B, NPD and innovation. Powered by agentic AI
• Science Power is a biological nutrition platform creating next-generation postbiotic solutions to enable differentiated health products.
• Snap2Cook is an AI-powered food decision platform connecting smarter cooking, healthier living, reduced food waste, and wellness services.
• Zolvia is a formulation technology company that makes functional ingredients actually perform in real food, drink and supplement products.

EIT Cohort

• EVANIUM develops ingredient technologies that improve the solubility, absorption, and performance of plant-based actives.
• AgroSustain SA creates natural antifungal solutions and coatings that extend produce shelf life while reducing food waste.
• Bio2Coat develops natural edible coatings that keep fresh foods fresher for longer while reducing plastic use.
• Yeastime uses ultrasound technology to accelerate fermentation, increasing productivity while reducing energy use and costs.

Generation Food Rural Partnership Cohort

• Bayou Best Foods creates plant-based shrimp with the taste and texture of conventional seafood, offering a sustainable alternative for foodservice and retail.
• TerraSafe is a material innovation platform accelerating the next generation of plastic-free packaging by transforming packaging from a polluter to a protector.

Ghent Cohort

• Biolynx is an independent biotech R&D lab helping food-tech innovators de-risk and scale fermentation and microbial bioprocesses from concept to market.
• Shelfion offers a software platform allowing food producers to easily determine shelf-life in a matter of minutes, replacing months of lab testing.
• Typcal, a Mycelium-based functional ingredient biotech company utilising circular fermentation of agro-industrial by-products.

From novel functional ingredients and microbiome solutions to next-generation quality systems and sustainable materials, these companies are tackling some of the food industry's biggest commercial and scientific challenges.

It’s just 4 weeks until Future Food-Tech London brings together the most influential voices in the industry. Register now to join the companies turning breakthrough ideas into commercial reality